The Yankees have lost their third baseman for 6-8 weeks. Ramiro Pena is not the long term answer. So what’s a team to do? How about trade for the guy who, as of now, is the most desirable third baseman on the market:

The Yankees will be considering all 3B options, including Chase Headley, who’d make sense for them on a lot of levels.

Hedley is hitting .265/.360/.422 with 11 homers and 50 driven in on the year. His 121 OPS+ is identical to last year’s mark. Yankee Stadium would be way better place for him to ply his trade than Petco, of course.

The Padres have been said to be asking an arm and a leg for Headley, however, so it’s an open question whether the Yankees have enough to pry him loose, especially given the interest of other teams, including the Indians, A’s and Pirates.

Chavez has stated repeatedly that he doesn’t what more playing time. This doesn’t mean he won’t do his part, but don’t be surprised to see Jason Nix getting the majority of playing time while Al is on the mend.

The Yankees have 28 year old Cuban refugee Ronnier Mustelier in AAA, why not bring him up to play 3rd? He can play 2nd, 3d and the outfield. He tore up the lower minors, hitting over .350 w 5 HR in Trenton and is hitting .297 w 8 HR in SWB. He’s a righthanded bat to go with Chavez who bats left. The downside is that he is coming off the DL for a foot injury on July 15, which might make the Yanks hesitate.

Headley is under control through 2014, right?! I guess A-Rod becomes a full-time DH or Headley moves back to the OF and they let Swisher walk assuming Gardner is healthy next year. Sounds like it’d make for a pretty packed roster with limited flexibility.

Not sure how this deal would work out beyond the next two months or so when A-Rod is back, but I guess that’s the type of problem the Yankees are okay with having, right?! Too many good bats and not enough spots in the lineup for ’em.

IT would actually add even more flexibility. They could let Sisher walk, have Headley move to the OF, and still use him to spell Arod at 3rd or even Teixera at first. The added ability of him being a switch hitter makes it even more of a flexibility bonus.

Headley’s a bad outfielder. Trust me on this, I’ve watched him struggle out there for two years. You don’t want him out there. I believe his comfort at 3B (vs discomfort in LF) is a factor behind his improved hitting over the years. So playing him at 3B improves your offense AND your defense.

Headley’s a good-fielding 3B anyway. I realize you have A-Rod there, but if the Yankees can find a way to DH him then they should do it.

Padres have most of the leverage right now with Headley, so they probably should trade him while his value is high. Jed Gyorko is waiting in the minors to replace him and he has looked good hitting wise so far.

Headley, young 2 more years of team control a switch hitter with very similar splits can play both 3rd base and the outfield seems ideal for the Yankees. Swisher’s gone at the end of the year anyway and Headley would arguably cost the Yankees about $8MM via Headley’s 2014 arbitration about half of what I’m sure Swisher will command with a new contract. I say depending on the cost the Yankees should definitely do it.
Then after the 2014 season if they wanted Gardner is a FA in 2015 they could move trade of let Gardner walk keep Headley and move him to left field and bring up 1 of the young guys that should be available to join the big league club from the minors e.g. Mason Williams.
There are many options that doing a deal for Headley would present for the Yankees most as I see it are positive.

Headley is a good all-round ballplayer. But the Pads are crazy to move him unless they can land a Betances or Banuelos. He is a B-grade 5 tool player, meaning he is good but not great in all departments. A great move for the Yanks, but I bet it will be pricey.

Spudchikar my friend. I could see the Yankees parting with Betances and another good prospect and perhaps another arm. The Yankees starting rotation now looks pretty strong so there are really only a couple of Yankee pitching prospects that stand a chance of making the team in the next couple of years.
Just my opinion but CC, Nova and Hughes are going to be the foundation of the Yankees starting rotation for the next few year. Pineda will join the group in 2013 baring something really unforeseen and Banuelos if not in 2013 for sure in 2014. So the Yankees do have options of moving some of the pitching prospects to make a deal happen if they want to.
BTW, as I mentioned previously I think they should.

Nunez is pretty solid and I agree he has great speed, but man I would just cringe anytime the ball was hit in his direction or him throwing to first… I don’t know that bringing in sloppy defense is ideal for a team trying to maintain a division lead. Also, isn’t he down in Tampa A ball right now? (Pena is definitely not any better)

This (A-Rod going on the DL) puts a whole different spin on the Ichiro deal.
Ichiro should now be moved up to the 2 hole and Granderson should be moved down to the 5 hole
following Cano and Teixeira. Yanks will need to replace A-Rod in the RBI slot.

If you consider that Grandy has 27 HRs and only 54 RBI’s – the reason is because there’s no Gardner and Russell Martin is at the Mendoza line or below. So putting Ichiro in the 2 hole will improve the pitches he sees, as well as giving Granderson a chance to have much more impact.

The Yankees should look within. Chavez, Nix and Nunez, can all fill in for A-Rod. No need to make a trade, because they will end up over spending. Let’s not forget this isn’t the old A-Rod it’s an old A-Rod.